Presidio could be a digital film hub

The Presidio has shortlisted three firms to redevelop the 12-building Thornburgh complex, including one developer proposing to convert the historic complex into a Hollywood-style "backlot" for the national park's growing film and digital arts community.

The three developers, who were preparing to submit formal proposals to the Presidio Trust on June 28, are Gordon Development, Federal Development and Equity Community Builders. Equity Community Builders and Federal Development are proposing to turn the 144,000-square-foot collection of buildings into a pedestian-friendly mixed-use enclave, with a combination of retail and office buildings.

The third proposal, by San Fran­cisco-based Gordon Development, would attempt to capitalize on the success of the Presidio's Letterman Digital Arts Center and the San Francisco Film Centre.

The development would include screening rooms plus facilities for editing and production and two motion capture studios, according to company principal Erik Robbins. Motion capture studios, used in both cinema and video games, use a technique of digitally recording real things as a source of motion data for computer animation.

Proposals 'pretty exciting'

The revitalization of the Thornburgh buildings is a key component in the Presidio Trust's effort to become self-sufficient by 2013. The buildings -- which include an old power house, laundry building, psychiatric ward, detention ward, tool shed, medical warehouse and a carpenter shop -- once lined a rail spur and provided "back of house" support for Letterman Hospital. While the brick structures are in rough shape, with broken windows, graffiti-covered walls, water damage and deterioration, they are also full of historic charm and detailing, with exposed tresses, high wooden ceilings, solariums, and skylights. The buildings are just to the north of the Letterman complex.

The Presidio Trust will hear proposals at its July meeting and is expected to pick a team by early August. Project Manager Scott Ward of the Presidio Trust said he was pleased at the level of interest.

"The proposals are pretty exciting -- when I first saw those buildings, I wasn't sure anyone would want to take them on," said Ward.

Erik Robbins said Gordon Development's project, which Presidio Trust sources described as the most fully developed, would be called Thornburgh Studios.

"We see Thornburgh as a mini backlot -- it looks like a backlot," said Robbins. "We think it's vital that this industry is nurtured and has more room to grow."

Teaming with film center

Gordon Development is working closely with several members of the San Francisco Film Commission as well as the Presidio's San Francisco Film Centre, the 67,000-square-foot production and screening room facility that is home to the Orphanage, as well as other filmmakers.

Melanie Blum, vice president for operations at the San Francisco Film Centre, said the center has been full since it opened in 1999, and she receives weekly calls from others in the film business looking to lease space in the building.

The Film Centre houses 18 tenants, ranging from less than 1,000 square feet to 13,000 square feet. She said the Thornburgh buildings could essentially work as an adjunct to the Film Centre, giving current tenants a place to grow while creating opportunities for smaller companies looking to move to the Presidio.

"I have tenants looking for more space and have tenants who have clients always asking about getting into the Presidio," said Blum, who is also a film commissioner.

Robbins, who is working with his mother and financial partner Sandy Robbins, said the entire project would cost $75 million. He said he was inspired by the creative energy that abounds at the Film Centre.

"There is film, television, commercials, media, gaming. It feeds off each other. It's like being back in grad school," said Robbins. "You think you just walked into Los Angeles."

Gordon Development is working with BAR Architects, designers of the Film Centre, which is housed in a former barracks. The project would include two motion capture studios, one in Building 1040 and another in a 9,000-square-foot addition next door, according to BAR principal Susan McComb.

There would be screening rooms in Building 1050, a former psychiatric ward. The key will be to knit the spaces between the buildings together in a way that creates a cohesive feel, McComb said.

She said the retail and building entrances would all spill out onto Thornburgh Street, "so you get a lot of foot traffic, people running back and forth, and sitting in the sun socializing."

Expanding office space

Kevin Wolf, of Federal Development, which specializes in public-private joint ventures, said its proposal would likely be between 75 percent and 90 percent office, with a restaurant, cafe, and possibly neighborhood-serving retail such as a florist. Federal Development, which is teamed with Heller Manus as architect and Webcor as contractor, is also one of three developers shortlisted to build a lodge on the Main Post.

Clark Manus, a principal with Heller Manus, said the Federal Development scheme would create a "mixed-use village" that would draw workers from around the Presidio with eateries and shopping. He said the tenant mix would likely be a combination of professional services and green technology companies. He called the Gordon Development proposal "an interesting idea but it doesn't really create an activated, pedestrian use."

"It needs to be a good balance between the ability to generate money for the Presidio as well as to make a space where people will want to come to and hang out," said Manus.

Tom Sargent, founding principal at Equity Community Builders, did not return a call seeking comment. Equity was the developer of the Presidio's Thoreau Center for Sustainability, a center for environmental nonprofit groups. The firm is also building a $97 million lodge at Fort Baker in Sausalito. Equity is partnered with Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects.